The chairman of the pro-Musharraf PML-Q party, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, told Associated Press Television News his party accepted the results "with an open heart" and was prepared to "sit on opposition benches".

Several notable ministers in the government had lost their seats, while dramatic gains were made by some smaller parties.

In the North West Frontier Province, the Awami National Party, which campaigns for Pashtun nationalism, has defeated the Islamist incumbents.